A long medium having an adhesive sheet temporarily adhered to a release sheet is provided with a plurality of holes in which a sprocket, a tractor, or the like is engaged on a side edge part in a longitudinal direction, and runs with the sprocket or tractor being engaged in these holes to rotate. The long medium that is caused to run by using the sprocket or tractor does not diagonally run at the time of print output, compared with a scheme in which the long medium is interposed between rollers to be conveyed with a force of friction with the rollers, and thus the long medium can be caused to linearly run in a stable manner. Therefore, in a printer for outputting a long medium of several meters, for example, a long medium that is caused to run by using a sprocket or tractor without positional misalignment is used.
This long medium is used as a print medium on which figures and characters are to be printed indoors, outdoors, on a nameplate, or the like. For example, in a printer using a thermal head as a head, a dye on an ink ribbon is transferred onto a print layer to form a predetermined image. Then, after printing, the long medium is cut out by a printer-incorporated or separate cutting device into a predetermined shape, the release sheet is peeled off, and is then affixed to a predetermined place.
The long medium of this type has a roll shape, is set at a printer or the like, and is caused to run by a sprocket or tractor. When printing with a length of several meters is performed, if the long medium runs out in the course of printing, the long medium printed so far goes to waste. To prevent this, in the printer or the like, the set roll-shaped long medium is removed, and the roll diameter is visually checked. However, in visual checking, the remaining amount is visually estimated, and it is therefore difficult to correctly grasp the remaining amount.
Moreover, when the set roll-shaped long medium is removed and the remaining amount is visually checked, if the remaining amount is sufficient, the roll-shaped long medium is required to be set again. On the other hand, if the remaining amount is insufficient, a new roll-shaped long medium is required to be set at the printer or the like. The work of resetting the long medium requires a work of rewinding the long medium drawn from the printer or the like into a roll, and this work is cumbersome.
Meanwhile, a long medium is desired that allows the remaining amount of the long medium set at a printer or the like to be visually checked at ease.
For example, in Patent Document 1 discloses that indicators indicating the remaining amount are given to a long web. In Patent Document 1, specifically, first indicators are equidistantly given, second indicators are given at second spacings different from spacing of the first indicators, and each spacing between adjacent ones of the first indicators and a relevant one of the second indicators is changed along the length of the medium. However, when the length of the medium is desired to be visually checked before the medium is set at the printer or the like, while the length is indicated by the spacing between the adjacent ones of the first indicators and the relevant second indicator, it is not possible to grasp a visually-specific remaining length. For example, when an output of three meters is desired to be obtained, it is difficult to visually determine whether a medium has three meters or longer left by using the first indicators and the second indicators shown on the medium to be set at a printer or the like.
Moreover, Patent Document 2 also discloses that indicators indicating the remaining amount are given to a long web. Specifically, this Patent Document 2, discloses that multi-stage marks are provided on a long sheet and the remaining amount is shown with a pattern formed of combinations of the marks. When the remaining amount is shown with a pattern formed of combinations of the marks, a method of giving a pattern formed of combinations of black and white, that is, formed of a binary number, can achieve the highest resolution power.
However, when the remaining amount is displayed with a pattern of black and white, if the remaining amount is tried to be visually grasped only with the sheet, the binary pattern is required to be decoded, and it is difficult for general users to grasp the remaining amount.